Door-controlling mechanism



Get. 9', 1923.

P. D. EVANS DOOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM Filed May 23. 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct.- 9 1923. 1,470,431

P. D. EVANS DOOR CONTROLLING MECHANISM Y My b 2 4 4 4-9 /7 1 y Y L m E INVENTOR.

. m ATTORNEY.

Patented @615. 9, 1923.

outta stares ream PETER n. EVANS, or DAYTON, OHIO.

nooR-ooNTnoLLr-ive MECHANISM.

Application filed May 23,

Dayton, in the county of Montgomery and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Controlling Mechanism, of which the followingis a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to door controlling mechanism, having particular referenceto improvements in mechanism for automatically controlling opening and closing of doors to permit of ready entrance and exit therethrough.

My invention in its general use is adaptable to the entrance and exit doors of stores; between departments of stores, factories, hospitals; betweenkitchens and'dining rooms of homes, hotels, restaurants, etc., the door controlling mechanism, with suitable modifications as to size and detail arrangements, being adaptable for and of great advantage as used with anyswinging door, whether single or double, where manual operation of the doors is difiicult, or interference with the doors is likely to occur upon'passing therethrough.

An object ofmy invention is to provide door controlling mechanism which will per mit of maintaining the floor of the door passageway substantially normal, that is to say, substantially flush with the adjacent floor, and which will have no projections above the floor to interfere with the entrance or exit passages. g

It is a further object of my invention'to provide door controlling mechanism which will be entirely automatic, or in other words, which will require no effort of those pass ing through the doors to open and close the same. t is an object of the invention to provide suitable stops and checks which will operate automatically to effect smooth com trol of the door, to'eliminate slamming of the door and to minimize noise of operation.

These and other characteristics of my invention will be apparent from the following detailed specification and the accompanying drawings in which the invention is illustrated in one form of preferred construe tion for illustrative purposes, it being understood that it is contemplated in the practice of. the invention to make such modifications of the construction here shown as may be required to effect suitable applications of 1921. Serial no. 471,606.

the principle of the invention under the varied conditions of its commercial use, such changes'or modifications being contemplated and comprised in the definition of the invention in the appended claims.

In the drawings: l l

F ig. 1 is an elevation of double swinging doors havingmy inventi'on'in one form applied thereto; 1

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the lower portion of the door controlling mechanism taken on the section line 2-2 of Fig. 3;

a Fig. 3 is an elevation of the mechanism taken in the direction of the arrow 33 of Fig. 2, and l Fig. 4 is an :end elevation of, the vmechanism taken in the direction of the arrow 4-4 of 'Fig. 2. i l i Fig. l of the drawings illustrates an application of my invention, as here shown, to two oppositely swinging doors 11,which represent respectively entrance and exit doors -2 representing the floor ofthe passageways, and'the adjacent floors +3, a

hand rail 4. between the entrance and exit passages, the doors'being hung and swing ing oppositely on any suitable mechanism as indicated by upper hinges --5.and' lower hinges 6 -7 representing a panelbetween the doors, door latches .8, for fasten ing the doors closed, spring catches' 9 for the doors in their closed position, spring catches -1O for the doors in their open position, a latch -12 for locking the door opcrating mechanism tohold the doors in open position, and strap hinges-11 extending across the bottom of the doors, thus to stiffen the construction.

The door controllingmechan'ism as illustrated, in Figs. 2, 3 and 4 consists of a rectangulanshaped frame structure Bb which is adapted to occupy, in two units for double doors, the spaces AA as indicated in Fig. 1. Hinged on the frame Bb, here shown as at -13, is a horizontally disposed frame C- of substantially. smaller dimensions than the frame B, the frame C together with floor '2 laidthe'reon, being adapted to'operate pivotally on the hinges 13 to the extent indicated by dotted lines c in Figs 3 and 4. Supported adjacent the opposite edge of frame -C in depending brackets -14 are longitudinally opposite rollers -l5 which ride on forwardly. projecting plates 16 secured to an actuating shaft 17 extending longitudinally of the end as indicated at -25 to one of the cross frames b, and connected at its opposite end to a. link -26 and by. means of the link toian arm -27 secured tor-a vertical shaft -28 which forms the pivot member of the lower hinge -6 of door -1. Thus it will be seen that downward movement of frame -C will be effective through the described connections, to operate door -1 in one direction, a

An adjustable tension spring -29 is connected at one end to lever -24 and at its opposite end to one of the longitudinal frames and serves to hold the door operating parts in their normal relation 'when there is no weight, or insufficient weight, on frame -C to overcome the'tension of the spr1ng,:prov1s1on being made as at -a and a to connect the spring on the oppositesideof.shaft120. Spring -21 serves as a buffer spring to absorb shocks trans mittedto thevmechanism, andto compensate for variations in the movements of the door and-adjustments of the mechanism. Also c'onnected'to lever -24, ad acent the connectionsito link -26, is a shaft -30 hav-- inga compound stop -31, operable through an aperture in the longitudinal frame -b, secured to its'opposite'end, resilient buffers -32-33, adjustable on shaft -30 as to their spacing relation relative to frame -b, being used as here shown, to limit movement in bothdirections of the shaft, thus to determine the open and cl'os edstop positions of the door and to absorb the shocks when the door swings free in eitherdirection.

Frame -C is supported in front by two longitudinally opposite rollers -34 mounted onbell-crank levers -35 which are pivoted-on vertical frame brackets -b, the opposite ends of the levers -35 having springs -36 connected thereto, the springs being secured at their opposite endsto base frame -13 by 'meansof brackets -37, the connection to the brackets being made by spring adjusting screws -38, this mechanism as a whole thus serving to further support frame -C at the front and to cooperate with the rollers -15 to maintain the frame balanced irrespective of the position ordistribution of weight thereon, as for example, thevveight of a person walking'through the doorway.

I Supported at the front central portion of frame -C is a spring latch mechanism comprising a depending frame -39, secured to frame -G, a latch -40 pivoted. on frame -39 and having a beveled catch -41 projecting through a slot in frame -C and adapted to engage and hold the door closed, a spring -42 serving to hold the latch normally raised, the door as it swings shut striking the beveled edge 43 of the catch -41, will depress and ride over the catch and thus be engaged and retained by it in closed position.

In Fig. 4 latch mechanism for holding the door open is illustrated. The mechanism, as here shown, consists of a lever -44 which is pivoted at its central portion as at -45 and connected at one end by a link -46 to frame -C, the opposite end of the lever being free. Adjacent its opposite end lever -44 is connected through a slot -47 to a link -48 and bymeans of the link to a latch -49 which has an upwardly projecting catch -50 adapted to engage and hold the door open, a spring -51 serving to hold the latch normally raised, thus, when the door swings open, .it will strike the catch -50, ride over it and be engaged by it in open position.

From the foregoing detailed description the construction and operation of my improved door operating mechanism will be readily understood. It will be seen that the mechanism can be readily adjusted for variable weight on the floor -2 for operating the door, as for example, the weight of children and of adults; the door remaining open as long as weight is on the floor -2, any number of persons can pass therethrough without interference with a swinging door as is the case with doors of the usual construction. Upon stepping on the floor -2 in the entrance passageway, the entrance door will swing inwardly and will be latched by the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 4; upon stepping off floor -2 on the opposite side of the door, the action. of springs -21 and -36 will return the floor to its normal elevation, the latch mechanism being automatically released with the upward movement of frame -C, thus permitting the door to swing shut and be latched by the mechanism illustrated in Fig. 3. A latch 12. as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3 is provided as here shown for securing floor -2 in its lowered position, thus serving to hold the door open as long as the latch is in engaged relation, and permitting the floor to rise and the door to close when the latch is disengaged. It will be observed that floor -2 has but slight operating movement, full operation of the door being effected by the compounded levers of the controlling mech anism. Objectionable off-sets between the operable floor -2 and fixed floor 3 are thus avoided and entrance and exit through the door will in nowise be interfered with.

Having described my invention. I claim: 1. In door operating mechanism, the combination with a swinging door, of an operable floor adjacent the doorway and connections between the door and floor whereby upon placing movable weight on the floor on one side of the door said door willbe swung open and upon removing the weight on the other side of the door said door will be swung shut, and means other than said connections for retaining the door in said open and closed positions.

2. In door operating mechanism the combination with a swinging door, of an operable floor extending through and beyond the doorway, and means for operating the door including a pivotally-operable supporting frame for the floor and connections between said frame and the door comprising an actuating shaft arranged longitudinally of the frame and roller supports for the frame operatively connected with said shaft whereby operative movement of the floor will effect opening and closing of the door.

3. In door operating mechanism and in combination with a normally closed door, an operable floor adjacent the doorway and normally flush with the adjacent floor, and

means for operating the door'including a pivotally-operable support for said floor and connections between the support and the door including a combination of levers and an adjustable compensating spring whereby operative movement of the floor will effect opening and closing of the door and variable movements of the door operating mechanism will be compensated for by said spring. 45. In door operating mechanism and in combination with a normally closed door, an operable floor adjacent the doorway, "and means for operatin the door including a pivoted frame and yieldable stop mechanism adjustable to compensate for variable movements of the door whereby operative movement of said floor will effect opening and closing of the door to limits of movement determined by said stop mechanism.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

PETER D. EVANS. 

